The Concept of Prophethood

Source: Islam in Focus by Hammuda Abdalati The Merciful and Loving God has sent many prophets at different times of history. Every known nation has had one prophet or more. Al the prophets of God were men of good character and high honor. They were prepared and chosen by God to deliver His Message to mankind. Their honesty and truthfulness, their intelligence and integrity are beyond doubt. They were infallible in that they did not commit sins or violate the Law of God. But as mortals, they might have made unintentional mistakes in some human affairs and decisions. Their private judgments were not necessarily always right. The sending of these prophets from God is a clear manifestation of a strong link between Heaven and Earth, between God and man. It means that man is reformable and in him there is much good. The purpose of prophet hood is to confirm what man already knows or can know, and to teach him what he does not or cannot know by his own means. It is also to help man to find the Straight Path of God, and to do the right and shun the wrong. Prophethood is an eloquent expression of God’s love for creations and His will to guide them to the right way of belief and behavior. It is an emphasis of His justice to man, because He shows him true guidance first, and then holds him responsible for his deeds. He gives warnings through His prophets, and if man fails to see the dangers of his wrong deeds his behavior becomes punishable. This is in complete accord with God’s love an justice, and the worth and capability of man of being responsible to his Lord. The Source of prophethood and the Sponsor of all the prophets are One and the Same: it is God. Their aim is to serve God, to acquaint man with God and His Divine teachings, to establish truth and goodness, to help man to realize the true purpose of his existence and help him to conduct his life in a a purposeful way. It is on this basis that the Muslims make no discrimination among the prophets and accept their teaching as consistent and complementary. And this is the reason why the Muslims believe in all the Divine Books and accept all the prophets of God as already mentioned. Messengers of Allah (PBUH) Below are the names of the 25 Rasul (Messengers of Allah) 1.    Adam(PBUH); (Peace be upon him) 2.    Idris(PBUH). 3.    Nuh (Noah)(PBUH). 4.    Hud(PBUH). 5.    Saleh(PBUH). 6.    Lut (Lot)(PBUH). 7.    Ibrahim (Abraham) (PBUH). 8.    Ismail (Shmael) (PBUH). 9.    Ishak (Isaac) (PBUH). 10.    Ya’kub (Jacob) (PBUH). 11.    Yousuf (Joseph)(PBUH). 12.    Shuaib (PBUH). 13.    Harun (Aaron) (PBUH). 14.    Musa (Moses) (PBUH). 15.    Dawood (David) (PBUH). 16.    Sulaiman (Solomon) (PBUH). 17.    Ayub (Job) (PBUH). 18.    Zulkifl (Ezekiel) (PBUH). 19.    Yunus (Jonah) (PBUH). 20.    Elyas (Elijah) (PBUH). 21.    Al-Yasa’ (Elisah) (PBUH). 22.    Zakariyah (Zechariah) (PBUH). 23.    Yahya (John) (PBUH). 24.    `Isa (Jesus) (PBUH). 25.    Muhammad (PBUH)